New study shows effective action can reduce impact of climate change on winter sport

November 13, 2024

While world leaders are meeting at COP29 to agree actions to address the climate crisis, a new study has revealed how effective climate action could reduce the impact of climate change on winter sport.

The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, is the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference. COP29 is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11th to 22nd November 2024.

The most comprehensive study on the subject to date, published by Taylor and Francis, has identified a substantial difference in the number of potential future host locations for the Olympic Winter Games, depending on whether the world experiences a low, mid or high greenhouse gas emissions scenario.

The independent study, ‘Climate change and the climate reliability of hosts in the second century of the Winter Olympic Games’, found that as long as emissions are reduced or stabilised, every region of the world that has already hosted the Olympic Winter Games should still be able to do so until at least the 2050s.

Each of the regions – in Europe, North America and Asia – would be able to offer multiple potential host locations for Olympic snow sports, with the majority retaining their climate reliability into the 2080s.

Under a high-emissions scenario, by the 2080s the majority of locations studied would be too warm.

The study’s authors, renowned climate change and sports scientists Associate Professor Robert Steiger of the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and Professor Daniel Scott of the University of Waterloo, Canada, observed that reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change would significantly slow the rate of global warming in mountain regions.

They noted that, this year, the world surpassed the 1.5°C dangerous global warming threshold set out in the agreement. Mountain temperatures in regions with reliable observations have increased at an average pace of 0.3°C per decade, exceeding the global warming rate of 0.2°C per decade since the mid-20th century.

Professor Scott noted “winter sport faces many challenges. The profound repercussions of a high-emission future on the world’s cultural heritage represented by the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games underscore the urgency of swiftly reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.”

The findings confirm that the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5, with their increased flexibility for hosts, will contribute towards protecting the future of the Olympic Winter Games, including by enabling projects to be hosted across one or more regions, in order to use a maximum number of existing venues. The study reinforces the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s position that the winter sports community must work together to find solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change on winter sport, and to minimise the negative impacts of winter sport on the environment.

The host regions for snow sports at the next three editions of the Olympic Winter Games - the Italian Alps, the French Alps and Wasatch Back in the US state of Utah - are all assessed as climate reliable beyond the middle of the century, demonstrating that the IOC has elected climate-secure destinations for the Olympic Winter Games for the next decade.

Karl Stoss, Chair of the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games and IOC Member in Austria advised “this study underlines why the IOC has adopted a clear strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of the Olympic Games, and why it has taken into consideration the impact of climate change when assessing future hosts.

“These decisions are supported by extensive consultation and scientific evidence.”

There are a number of requirements set out by the IOC in the election of Olympic Games hosts, including that projects should prioritise the use of existing or temporary venues, to reduce the cost and carbon footprint of the Games.

Stoss added “we are committed to leading the way to secure a solid future for the winter sports movement and for everyone who practises winter sport in the mountains.”

The study was commissioned by the IOC to increase understanding of the winter sports environment and how it is being impacted by climate change, in order to make well-informed decisions about future Games.

The researchers assessed the future climate reliability of former Olympic Winter Games hosts, as well as potential new host regions that have not been considered in previous academic studies around the future of Olympic hosting.

In addition, they conducted a review of existing studies about the impact of climate change on hosting the Olympic Winter Games in the future.

In December 2022, the IOC Executive Board (EB) set two criteria for future Olympic Winter Games hosts: that they should be climate reliable and use a maximum number of existing and temporary venues, with no new venues built specifically for the Games.

The number of potential future hosts will evolve over time as new sports venues are built to serve the needs of local populations, and as National Olympic Committees (NOCs) take advantage of the flexibility offered by Olympic Agenda 2020 to propose events or sports outside the main host region.

Associate Professor Robert Steiger, University of Innsbruck shared “while it is inevitable that climate change will impact the geography and development of winter sports to some degree, a reassuring finding is that even with a diminished pool of potential host locations, with continued adaptation the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games can endure as a genuinely global celebration of sport.”

The IOC’s commitment to contribute to global efforts to address climate change
The IOC is working to ensure a sustainable future for the Games so that they create lasting benefits for their hosts, reduce their environmental footprint and evolve in response to a warming planet.

While past Olympic Games have made substantial efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, starting with the Olympic Winter Games 2030, all summer and winter Olympic hosts will be required by the IOC to minimise Games-related carbon emissions, strive to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than their Games project emits, and use their influence to encourage stakeholders to take climate action. The IOC also uses its influence to encourage the broader Olympic Movement to take action against climate change, including for example by co-launching the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and the Sports for Nature Framework in 2018.

As an organisation, the IOC is on track to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2024 and is aiming for a 50% reduction by 2030, in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Find out more about the IOC’s sustainability strategy.

Access the independent study, ‘Climate change and the climate reliability of hosts in the second century of the Winter Olympic Games’

Image. Credit: Shutterstock

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